


Final Assignment (2007)

by JennyB



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Flirting, M/M, Minor Violence, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-07-01
Updated: 2007-07-01
Packaged: 2018-02-06 14:57:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1862088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JennyB/pseuds/JennyB
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Joey's been given a job. Can he see it through to completion?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Final Assignment (2007)

Joey arched a brow as he stared across the obscenely polished desktop at the heavyset man with the close-cropped raven hair. His eyes dropped back to the photograph that had been slid across the surface to him. "Why me, Adamar?" he asked evenly, neither his expression nor his voice giving any indication that he was familiar with his target. "I'm sure a well-connected guy like you has dozens of people already on his bankroll."

"I do," the man replied with a chuckle. "But, I wanted the best."

"Sorry," the blond replied, a slow smile spreading across his face when he saw the other scowl. "Not interested."

Adamar's eyes narrowed. "Nobody says no to me. So either you agree to do this job, make a bit of cash, and we part ways as friends, or I give the order and before you get two steps out that door, your brains will be decorating the office wall. See, if you won't work for me, you won't work for anyone."

"Well, since you asked so _nicely_ ," Joey replied, and despite the sarcasm in his voice, he saw the other man relax. "So, what'd this guy do to get in your bad books?"

"He stole something from me." At seeing the blond's eyebrow arch in curiosity, Adamar smiled. "A microchip. Retrieve that for me, and I'll double your pay."

The blond nodded. "I'll be in touch. Three days, tops." He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his blazer, and as he headed out to his car, he thought to himself, ' _Kaiba, what the fuck have you done_?'

* * *

The next evening, Joey had tracked Seto to a small, unassuming café. He was crouched in the shadows afforded by a small copse of trees, and he was watching. The brunet was sitting out on the patio, sipping an espresso. The blond shook his head as he took note of the contented expression and relaxed posture, and he wondered if the young CEO knew that his competition had a bounty on his head. Joey was sure that Adamar had been behind Mokuba's death, too. There was something about the whole scenario that was rubbing the blond the wrong way, and as he tried to puzzle it out, he suddenly became aware of a pair of piercing sapphire eyes staring directly at him. The fair-haired male tried to tell himself that it was just coincidence that the other happened to be looking that way, and he'd almost convinced himself of that fact – until he saw the slow smile morph across the handsome visage. Joey felt his blood turn to ice, and he moved to retreat and regroup, only to find himself flanked by two enormous bodyguards, each brandishing a 9mm pistol. He knew he was fast, but there was no way he could take out both of them – and knowing the brunet, these two probably had training that was far superior to that of his regular guards. "Evening, gentlemen," he said cautiously.

"Mr. Kaiba would like you to join him for coffee," the dark haired guard said. From the expression on his face, it was obvious that it wasn't a request.

"Would he now?" Joey snorted as he smoothed down his jacket and headed towards the blue-eyed CEO, very aware of the two guards behind him. "That's awfully fucking nice of him." His gaze met the brunet's and never wavered until he finally sat down in the chair opposite his latest target. "Do you always invite your assassins to have a drink with you?" he asked quietly after he'd ordered a latté.

"Only the ones I don't plan on having killed," Seto replied with a smirk. He cocked his head to the side slightly and studied the other. "Tell me, did Adamar tell you that you're the fourth he's hired? That your predecessors have been...eliminated?" The smirk widened when he saw the golden brow arch in surprise. "No, I suppose he left that tidbit out. He always was good at skirting the truth."

The blond licked his lips hesitantly. "Look, Kaiba, just give me that chip you stole from him, and disappear." There were a lot of things he wanted to do to the brunet, but killing him wasn't one of them.

The brunet's mouth curved down into a scowl. "Is that what he told you? That I stole it?" He let out a bark of laughter as he reached into his pocket and removed a small case containing a single chip. "That's rich. He had a mole infiltrate KaibaCorp and steal this from _me_. So, I stole it back. This chip transcends virtual reality… It's capable of producing artificial intelligence." The dark-haired male smirked humourlessly. "If it was just a simple matter of theft, why do you suppose Adamar never went to the police?"

"Artificial intelligence?" Joey asked. "You mean, that thing can… think for itself?"

"That's the basic premise, yes."

The blond reached across the table to grab the chip, only to receive a quick, sharp punch in the mouth for his trouble. "The fuck, Kaiba?" he groused as he held his napkin up to his split lip.

"I told you already," the brunet snapped as he slipped it back inside his jacket. "It's mine. Mokuba died trying to protect it; like hell I'll just give it away."

Joey tried not to look bothered by that thought, his suspicions about Adamar confirmed. "And I could just kill you right now and take it, and you could join him!" the blond hissed in return, though he didn't really mean it.

"You could, and you're more than welcome to try…but you won't." A playful glint entered Seto's eyes as he gazed across the table at the other.

"What makes you so sure? Just because I know you, it doesn't mean anything." Joey swallowed thickly, wondering just when he had lost complete control of himself.

"True…but I don't think you'd shoot me point blank while we're having a friendly cup of coffee. I think it would go against your personal morality and ethics." The brunet got to his feet and laid down a few bills to cover their drinks and tip. He grinned impishly at the blond, and then he leaned down and lightly kissed the corner of Joey's mouth, his tongue teasingly flicking across a drop of blood that remained on his lip. "Besides," he whispered. "I don't think your heart's really in it this time. Catch me later..." He gave the fair-haired male a conspiratorial wink, and then quietly disappeared into the crowd, leaving the blond slightly stunned and more confused than ever.

* * *

Despite his prominence in society and his high standing in the business world, when Seto wanted to disappear, he was like Harry Houdini. It had taken Joey an entire day to track down the brunet again, and though he would never admit it, his discovery had been a complete fluke. He'd been sitting at a stop light and mentally cursing himself for simply letting the young CEO just walk away the previous night, when he'd been drawn from his thoughts by the revving of a high performance engine in the lane next to him. When he'd looked up, he'd been surprised to see Seto sitting in a Porsche 911 Turbo and grinning at him. He glanced at the wheel of his own Audi R8, and then back at the brunet. "You want to _race_ me? Are you insane??"

"Catch me, and I'm yours...and so is the chip." Just then, the light turned green and with a wink and a squeal of tires, the silver car disappeared into the night.

"Like fuck you're getting away from me again!" the blond called out as he slammed his vehicle into gear and took off after the other. A high speed chase through town wasn't exactly the way to go about being covert and subtle, but as long as Seto seemed intent on playing these games with him, he didn't really have much choice. The brunet had the faster, more powerful car, but that didn't really matter when they were racing short lengths and trying to navigate sharp turns. Joey was a fairly skilled driver, and it didn't take him long to catch up to the other – although part of him did wonder if Seto was simply toying with him. As he pulled up alongside the Porsche, he called out, "I caught you. Now give it to me!"

"You haven't caught me yet!" Seto yelled back as he executed a quick snap turn and took off in the opposite direction.

"FUCK!" Joey shouted as he completed a similar manoeuvre and continued his pursuit. A small smile crossed his face when they turned down the winding road to the wharf, and he grinned outright when they hit the shipyard. There was only one way in, and as soon as Seto passed the gate, Joey waited by the entrance. The brunet was his. "I win, Kaiba," he murmured as he sat back to wait.

When he didn't see the blond for some time, Seto figured he'd given his quarry the slip and headed for the exit. He slammed on the brakes when he saw his way blocked, and when his pursuer's headlights started drawing closer by the second, he knew he had to move. Throwing the car into gear again, he peeled away, disappearing down a blind corner to double-back to the gate. Turning down the final stretch of road, he hit the gas – only to find Joey's Audi coming at him head-on. The brunet made a high-speed swerve in an attempt to sneak around the front of the blond's car, and he grinned when he heard the surprised curse after pulling off the move. Unfortunately, his tires hit the gravel, oil and debris that had gathered along the edge of the dock, which in turn caused his car to fishtail out of control.

Joey, who had managed to quickly swing his car around, watched as the Porsche's back quarter struck a fuel canister and tore it open, the resulting sparks igniting not only the spilled fuel, but also the vehicle. In seeming slow motion, the CEO's car ricocheted off the wall, flipped onto its side, careened into and over the safety barrier, and then exploded like some macabre firework before it dropped into the sea and sank. Eyes wide, the blond put his car in neutral and set the parking brake, unaware of how his hand was shaking on the gear shifter. Slowly, he got out of the Audi and moved to the now-twisted guardrail, looking down into the inky water. There was a flash of orange light – presumably, a smaller secondary explosion, and then just the eerie, bluish glow from the headlights. For ten minutes, he watched carefully, his ears straining for any sound, but there was none – except for the approaching sirens from the emergency vehicles. He figured that one of the dockworkers must have called in the accident. Occasionally, a few bubbles or a wayward personal effect would break the surface, but nothing more. Sighing heavily, he returned to his car and pulled out of the shipyard – the last thing he needed was to be questioned by the cops. Still, he wanted to see the rescue; he needed to.

A couple of hours later, rescue workers hauled the mangled remains of the Porsche from the water. From where he was standing in the shadows, Joey could see the burned body in the driver's seat, and he felt his heart plummet and his stomach twist painfully. Shaking his head sadly, he reached into his jacket and pulled out his cell phone. After hitting a button, the call was answered. "It's me." He glanced out at the dock again, the paramedics now working on extracting the body. "Dead... Off the pier at the shipyard. Number seven... That's a fucking tasteless joke, Adamar. Not even funny... No, it was on him. I think it's destroyed, too... Fuck, if you want it that bad, you can hit the morgue or go down into that cesspool and sift through the muck to retrieve it. Be my fucking guest. I just hope you've got something to deal with the salt water and scorching... Fuck you. Keep the fucking money, I don't want it. Never being indebted to you for anything ever again is payment enough for me." He ended the call and sighed. "What a fucking waste!"

"I'm touched you think so," a sultry baritone purred in his ear as Joey was grabbed around the waist and held tightly. There was a dark chuckle, and a warm, wet tongue playfully licked the lobe. "And here I thought you didn't care about me at all. It's just not good business for an assassin to show compassion for his targets, is it?"

The blond's eyes went wide, and as he turned his head slightly to gaze into that sparkling sapphire, he stuttered, "K-Kaiba? But, I saw –"

"You saw what I wanted you to see," he replied with a grin. "And it was so good of you to let Adamar think I'd been dispatched. I'm sure he's quite pleased and off celebrating right now. Probably called all his best advisors together to plan their next move, too." He paused for a moment, a hand pressed against his ear, and then he laughed darkly. "He's so predictable. Too bad his ambition will be his downfall. After all, it's prudent to wait until the king's been buried before moving to plunder his treasure." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small cylinder and his own cell phone. After dialling, he purred icily, "Hello, Adamar. Next time you get a brilliant idea to kill someone, do your own dirty work... Good bye, my dear 'friend'...as they say, 'An eye for an eye...' and now, a death for a death." He hung up the phone as he pressed the button on the cylinder, and off in the distance, a great fireball lit up the night sky. The brunet let out a contented sigh as he watched the top floor of his adversary's corporate office succumb to the flames, and after kissing the top of the blond's head, he reluctantly, he let his arms slip free from around Joey's waist. "By tomorrow, the world will think I'm dead. There's practically nothing left for me here, and I've got more than enough money set aside to 'retire'... Would you consider coming with me?"

The blond felt his stomach do a small flip as he thought about it, about how he'd feel knowing that he'd never see the brunet again. "You really want me to come with you?"

"Have I not made my intentions clear by now?" came the incredulous reply.

"Maybe," Joey murmured as he laughed, and this time, he wrapped his arms around Seto. "But you can always show me again," he teased

The brunet arched a brow and chuckled as he leaned down to kiss the other. "I'm sure I can find the time..."


End file.
